26 May 1984
Over Memorial Day weekend, we accepted an invitation from Dinah, the Dinosaur, to visit Dinosaur Land and “enjoy friendly western hospitality in a land of breathtaking beauty.”
Dinah is the ambassador for Dinosaur Land.
we drove nearly 450 miles (720 km) roundtrip to visit with dinosaurs.
We based ourselves in Vernal, Utah and visited nearby attractions, starting with the Dinosaur Gardens in town — sort of a primer for the real thing, which was on our agenda for later in the day. The full-size dinosaurs, sculpted by Elbert Porter over a period of 14 years, are part of the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum.
At close to 80 feet (24 m) Diplodocus was the longest dinosaur. It weighed 12-13 tons.
Diplodocus lived at the end of the Jurassic Period. with its classic dinosaur shape,
long neck and tail, and four sturdy legs, it is one of the easily identifiable dinosaurs.
This 76-foot (23 m) Diplodocus replica was cast from fossil bones
found near Conco Bluffs, Wyoming.
Pteranodon (winged-toothless) had a wing span of 23-30 feet (7-9 m). It was the
largest flying reptile. Covered in fur, it may have been warm-blooded.
Triceratops was the largest of the horned dinosaurs. about
30 feet (9 m) long, It was one of the last to go extinct.
Ornithomimus was a hollow-boned dinosaur referred to as the “ostrich dinosaur.”
14 feet (4 m) in length, it stood 7-8 feet (2-2½ m) tall.
The woolly mammoth was found on all the continents except South America.
It stood 14 feet (4 m) tall at the shoulder.
Tyrannosaurus Rex was a Jurassic dinosaur that was 18-20 feet (5½-6 m) tall,
50 feet (15 m) long, and weighed 8-15 tons.
T-Rex, the most powerful carnivore to walk the earth, was the largest
and among the most highly evolved of all the carnivorous dinosaurs.
it’s dagger-like teeth were over 6 inches (15 cm) in length.
We survived our encounter with T-Rex and his friends and lived to tell the story of our day.
